Town and village to trial bus service from September

A new trial bus service linking two Staffordshire towns and the villages between them will be launched at the start of next month.

The year-long county council funded 151 from Stone to Rugeley will feature an hourly service from Monday to Saturday, with nine journeys in each direction.

Cabinet member for connectivity at the authority, Andrew Mynors, said it hoped people make use of it, "as forward plans will depend on passenger numbers".

The service will call at Aston Lodge, replacing service A, Burston, Sandon, Weston, Hixon, Great Haywood, Little Haywood and Colwich.

The timetable would be available from Monday on the council's bus travel webpage, the authority has previously said.

Its transport team will monitor the service and passenger numbers during the year-long trial period.

Mynors said: "We continually review our bus network so that it's efficient and targeted where services are needed most."

The route had not had a regular service for several years and it would be a "welcome addition", he stated.

"It's great news for communities along the A51 corridor that they can benefit from better transport connections through our new bus service."

The nine journeys in each direction on the service from 1 September will be between just before 09:00 and 17:30.

Stafford borough councillor for Haywoods and Hixon, Brendan McKeown, said 12 months was "a generous period".

He stated there were "many growing communities and industrial developments" along the Trent Valley area.

McKeown said: "After our hard work and planning to get to this point, we hope as many people use the service as possible."

Last month, Andy Burnham announced the bus fare cap in England would revert to £2 from January 2027.

The government said the policy would "help with the cost of living and give people the breathing space they need".

At the start of last year, the England-wide bus fare cap rose to £3 under Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government, although in Liverpool and Manchester fares were held at £2.

Earlier in July this year, elsewhere in the Midlands, it emerged Shropshire Council was urging Burnham to look at fairer funding for public transport in rural areas.

Portfolio holder for transport and regeneration at the authority, Rob Wilson, said they had written to the prime minister.

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